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December 15, 2000
Mr. Michael Eisner, CEO
Walt Disney Company
500 South Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521
Fax: 818-566-7835
Dear Mr. Eisner:
RE: Disney Sweatshops in South China
I am/We are writing to express my/our very serious concerns about
recent reports of sweatshop abuses in factories producing Disney
products in China. According to a report by the Hong Kong Christian
Industrial Committee, workers are being forced to work up to 18
hours a day, seven
days a week, often under dangerous working conditions, for poverty
wages. Workers interviewed complain of bad food and dangerous and
overcrowded living conditions. Obviously, these working and living
conditions are totally unacceptable, and are clearly in violation
of both Chinese Labour Law and your company's code of conduct.
As promised in your code of conduct, Disney should ensure that
its contractors respect workers' rights. However, your company's
current monitoring program appears to be inadequate and ineffective.
Rather than cutting and running from contract factories in violation
of the Disney code and Chinese law, which would only cause more
suffering for the affected workers, Disney should act responsibly
and work with your contractors to correct the problems immediately.
I/We strongly urge Disney to do the following:
- Promote workers' rights education at the workplace so that
workers are aware of their rights and able to make complaints
when those rights are violated.
- Involve workers in the monitoring process. They should be empowered
to act as on-going workplace monitors.
- Provide accessible and trustworthy channels (e.g. letter box
in the factory with prepaid postal envelopes) for workers to lodge
complaints to the company and interested third parties. The company
should guarantee that there will be no retaliation against workers
who register complaints.
- Strictly monitor and assist your suppliers to comply with the
national labour laws and Disney's Code. Instead of simply cutting
and running, Disney should work with the non-complying factories
to improve the situation.
- Disclose all information on your suppliers for public scrutiny.
I/we look forward to receiving a prompt reply outlining the specific
steps your company is taking to correct these problems and to make
your monitoring program more transparent, credible and effective.
Yours sincerely,
Name/ Organization / Contact Information
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